Back from the hunt
ABert
11/27/10 8:04pm
Well, actually got back home a couple of days ago from our annual CO elk hunt. Tag draws were a bit mixed up this year as my brother and his wife drew 3rd season and the other four of us drew 4th season, though in two different units. All cow tags this year, no deer tags. My dad and I went up early to help my brother and his wife out on their hunt. Good thing we did, they both got their elk. I was up front on both elk with my drag. First one was about a mile and a half drag, all down hill thankfully. The second one I was able to get about 30 feet from it with the Blazer.
Come to find out the other two hunters cancelled out on us do to work cancelling their vacation time. Good thing my brother took the time off to help out as my dad is 78 and not much help when it comes to getting critters out of the woods. I ended up getting my elk on the 3rd day and my dad didn't want to go down to his unit to hunt. His hip was hurting him pretty much the whole time we were up there.
If I posted these up correctly, the first pic is of me with my cow and the second pic is of my brother's elk in the back of my Blazer. I've had some folks tell me there is no way you can fit an elk in the back so thought I'd take a pic to prove them wrong. Best guess is both elk fall somewhere between 450-550 lbs on the hoof, probably around 350-400 lbs field dressed. We use a sled to get them out so the dragging isn't bad, particularly when down hill with snow. Getting one of these critters into the back of a slightly lifted Blazer with only two people is a major PITA, though.
Dropped the elk of at my processor yesterday and should have the meat in the freezer no later than Monday evening. Good thing as we are down to one last pack of ground and two packs of backstrap.
Come to find out the other two hunters cancelled out on us do to work cancelling their vacation time. Good thing my brother took the time off to help out as my dad is 78 and not much help when it comes to getting critters out of the woods. I ended up getting my elk on the 3rd day and my dad didn't want to go down to his unit to hunt. His hip was hurting him pretty much the whole time we were up there.
If I posted these up correctly, the first pic is of me with my cow and the second pic is of my brother's elk in the back of my Blazer. I've had some folks tell me there is no way you can fit an elk in the back so thought I'd take a pic to prove them wrong. Best guess is both elk fall somewhere between 450-550 lbs on the hoof, probably around 350-400 lbs field dressed. We use a sled to get them out so the dragging isn't bad, particularly when down hill with snow. Getting one of these critters into the back of a slightly lifted Blazer with only two people is a major PITA, though.
Dropped the elk of at my processor yesterday and should have the meat in the freezer no later than Monday evening. Good thing as we are down to one last pack of ground and two packs of backstrap.
6,028
Mark
FYI: I had a Blazer for years and LOVED that rig. Although I never threw a whole elk in it, I've had some big bucks in there...and one year we stuffed two in at the same time. Great little hunting rigs and I could go places in it that full-sized trucked could not.
Never should have gotten rid of that rig!
Funny thing happened at the processors. Another guy was there to pick up, I assume, a deer with his 10-12 year old daughter in tow. He grabbed his little 48 quart cooler and just happened to see the amount of meat I had in my two coolers, one a 140 quart and the other a 160 quart (or around those sizes, forget the exact measurements). I was going through the different bags with the butcher and this guy was surprised to find out it all came from one animal.
I told him no, this all came from just one animal. He asked what it was and I told him a medium sized cow elk. Without missing a beat his daughter stated quite firmly, "Daddy, I want to shoot an elk."
I had to chuckle under my breath as my son and I loaded the coolers up and drove off.
As for why do we drag? Well, I kind of like to skin the animal as a whole. I have in the past kept the hides and had them tanned. I've got probably around a dozen or more elk hides and probably half a dozen deer hides right now. Just need to figure out what to do with them one of these days. Plus, using a sled makes getting an elk out pretty easy, comparatively. We also keep a good portion of the bones for the dogs. I like to use as much of the animal as I can with as little waste as possible. I've seen too many elk and deer remains that have had the quarters cut off along with the backstrap, leaving the neck, ribs and spine. Plenty of waste right there IMHO. I respect these animals too much to leave that much meat behind.